EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III

Canon's least-expensive telephoto zoom lens still provides great bang-for-the-buck performance, and is one of the best-selling lenses in the EF lens line. It's the perfect introduction to long telephoto shooting for cost-conscious consumers or business users, and opens the door to documenting events and subjects at a distance – either to photograph discreetly, or because the subjects can't (or shouldn't) be approached. It's likewise a great first step for smaller security and law enforcement agencies to begin surveillance photography with SLR cameras.

Long 300mm maximum zoom setting means powerful images of subjects you can't get close too (lens "acts" like a 480mm lens on traditional film camera, when used on an EOS digital SLR with 1.6x crop factor sensor size)

Compatible with every Canon EOS SLR, film or digital

Closest focus distance 4.9 feet – when zoomed to its maximum 300mm position, effective close-ups of relatively small subjects are possible from that distance

Relatively compact size makes it less conspicuous than some high-end lenses, and may allow more opportunities for long telephoto photos to be taken